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Ablative Transplants: a stem cell transplant using high-dose chemotherapy to destroy diseased cells and suppress the immune system; also known as "full dose" or "standard" allogeneic transplant. The patient undergoes several days of high-dose chemotherapy and possibly radiation. This is known as the conditioning regimen . The donor stem cells are then infused into the patient. This type of transplant serves three purposes: first, it destroys diseased cells, second, it suppresses the immune system to prevent rejection of the donor's healthy stem cells, and third, it creates a graft versus malignancy effect. The graft (donor cells) recognizes the cancer (malignancy) as foreign and attacks it. This ablative therapy is typically given to patients with a highly aggressive disease process.
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